Horner suffers punctured lung, broken ribs in training crash

Chris Horner suffered a punctured lung, broken ribs, and other injuries in an apparent car/bike collision while training Friday near Lake Como in Italy.

“The details of the accident are still to be evaluated, however it seems that he was probably hit by a car while riding on the Lecco side of the Lake,” Horner’s Lampre-Merida team said via its website. “He was immediately transported to Lecco hospital where the team’s medical doctor (Luca Pollastri) met him to evaluate the circumstances with the hospital’s doctors.

“The medical checks taken show no head concussion, but a punctured lung, four broken ribs and cuts in his head which required stitches.”

Horner has had a difficult early-season return following his historic Vuelta a España victory in Sept. 2013. After landing a late contract with Lampre, the American has suffered from tendinitis and illness and abandoned Tirreno-Adriatico and the Volta a Catalunya in March. The former Vuelta al País Vasco (Tour of the Basque Country) winner missed the 2014 race, which Alberto Contador currently leads with one stage remaining.